November 2015 Insight: A Recap of the New Orleans Annual Meeting

The VOSH 2015 annual meeting, held October 9-10, 2015 in New Orleans, was packed full of information for our chapters to take back for implementation in their clinics, both locally and internationally. Much thanks to National Vision for their sponsorship, as their support made our meeting possible.

World Sight Day was Thursday, October 8 and 2015 is the ten year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. To commemorate, VOSH, with support from VSP and Optometry Giving Sight, conducted a free clinic outreach at the Sanchez Recreation Center. Located in the Lower Ninth Ward, this free clinic to perform free eye exams and provide free glasses directly benefited the survivors of Hurricane Katrina.

Friday a past president’s luncheon was followed by the VOSH board meeting. That evening all attendees met for a cocktail reception honoring the Fellows of VOSH International.

The afternoon had informative breakout sessions with SEE (Surgical Eye Expeditions), working with North American and International student-VOSH chapters, sustainable Clinic Development, and hands-on technology.

A highlight of the meeting was a Skype dialogue from Nicaragua with our VOSH Corp placement, Dr. Justin Manning. Dr. Manning summarized his weekly schedule as he embarks on his teaching career, and was surprised with a President’s Circle Award. Other award winners were Max Bruss (President’s Circle Award), Dr. Victoria Weiss (Humanitarian of the Year), and Dr. Greg Pearl (Lifetime Achievement Award).

I hope you will join us in 2016 VOSH/International Annual Meeting on Sunday November 13, 2016 in Anaheim, CA, following the AAO meeting.